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Year in Review

365 Days: Looking Back on the Year That Was

JANUARY >> The City of Buffalo officially informs the Olmsted Conservancy that the agreement by which the Conservancy maintains the city’s system of Olmsted-designed parks will be extended.

News Feature

Predictions for the Year to Come

Last year, we asked a dozen or so friends and contributors to offer their predictions for 2010 and the decade to come. We’ve done the same thing this year, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t provide some sort of scorecard to measure last year’s prognostications.

News Analysis

A Chris-Mess Carol

by Anthony Chase

I read with fascination a letter to the Buffalo News from a reader in a rural suburb of Buffalo who complained that tax dollars go to services that she does not personally use. She was particularly distressed by what she sees as the absurdity of public funding for the arts.

News Analysis

Killing Us Softly

by Bruce Fisher

Here in Buffalo, we need to care about an obscure economic fact called the Canadian consumer debt-to-income ratio. Canadians are just like Americans except more so: Canadians consume more than they earn, and pull off that trick by borrowing money. Statistics Canada reported last week that the ratio of household debt to disposable income reached a new record this year when it hit 148.1 percent.

Week in Review

Seven Days: The Straight Dope From the Week That Was

by Geoff kelly

Scorecard: The Week's Winners and Losers

by Zachary Burns

Music Feature

The Year in Music

by Donny Kutzbach, Cory Perla, Eric Kendall

Even in the age of digital downloads and shortened attention spans, the good news is that the album is not dead. This year proved to have some of the finest full-lengths in years. Singles alone be damned: long live the long-player!

Theater

Stagefright

by Javier

As 2010 comes to a close, I am reflecting on the 20th anniversary of Stagefright. Over the past 20 years I have had the good fortune to meet many luminaries of the American theater, some of whom we lost over the past year.

Art Scene

The Year in Art

by Jack Foran

Lots of art happened in Buffalo and the region this year. Starting and ending the year with huge, multi-installation shows, the month-long John Cage extravaganza at the Burchfield Penney Art Center, and the Beyond/In Western New York biennial exhibit at venues stretching from the foot of Main Street in Buffalo to the Castellani Museum in Lewiston.

Sports Feature

The Year in Sports

by Andrew Kulyk & Peter Farrell

Trying to mine unique and interesting stories from 2010 was a challenge. It was same-old same-old from One Bills Drive and from the Buffalo Sabres. Our local college football and basketball programs failed to captivate. Nonetheless, we still managed to come up with our list of favorites to share with you.

B.O.O.M!

Round 2, Week 4: The Funky Beets vs. City of Kings

Congratulations to Coterie of Stern! They collected the most online votes this past week, earning themselves a spot on the bill at our next live battle of the bands at Nietzsche’s on January 14, 2011, along with Suffolk & Rain, Canoe and the winner of this week’s round.

Film Feature

The Royal Stutter

by M. Faust

He was born left-handed but forced to use his right. As a child he was abused by his nanny, and wore splints on his legs to correct knock knees. He lived in the shadow of his suave, popular brother. And he had a hugely debilitating stammer.

Film Reviews

All Good Things

by George Sax

Little Fockers

by M. Faust

Listings

Movie Times (Friday, December 24 - Thursday, December 30)

Film Now Playing

New Year's Events

New Year's Eve Party Guide

by Jill Greenberg

Perhaps you’ve been to one too many house parties this year, you’re ready to take your partying to the next level after frequenting the same old bars, or you’ve been cursed with sickness and failed plans in the past. Whatever your sad story is, 2011 is the year to turn things around.

Featured Events

See You There!

Artvoice's weekly round-up of featured events, including our editor's pick for the week: The Christmas Party at the Pearl Street Grill & Brewery, on Christmas day, Saturday the 25th.

You Auto Know

Dancing with the Cars

by Jim Corbran

If nothing else, 2010 was an interesting year to be in the car business. Disappearing brands, new hybrids, electrics…you really needed a program to keep up. And here it is:

Five Questions With...

Dr. Curtis Haynes, Jr. - City Councilman, Professor

Dr. Curtis Haynes, Jr. was appointed to fill the Ellicott District seat on the Common Council, which had been vacated by Brian Davis, on January 14. The contentiousness of the process by which the Council’s majority chose him was soon belied by Haynes’ demeanor on the Council during his brief service: deliberative, calm, reasonable, intelligent. He seemed a reluctant politician, which may be why he’s leaving office.

Offbeat News

News of the Weird

by Chuck Shepherd

The Cabral Chrysler dealership in Manteca, Calif., was so desperate for a sale in October that one of its employees picked up potential customer Donald Davis, 67, at his nursing home, brought the pajamas-and-slippers-clad, dementia-suffering resident in to sign papers, handed him the keys to his new pickup truck (with the requested chrome wheels!), and sent him on his way (even tossing Davis’ wheelchair into the truck’s bed as Davis sped away).

Horoscopes

Free Will Astrology

by Rob Brezsny

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): I have tracked down a formula that I think should be one of your central ongoing meditations in 2011.

Advice

Ask Anyone

I’ve never had much luck sticking to New Year’s resolutions. How about you? Do you experts have any advice on how I can make a permanent change to my life starting January first?